While the Windows Phone (News - Alert) platform has been struggling a bit in the face of deeply entrenched rivals iOS and Android, there's an odd fact floating around that may well change the game. Microsoft (News - Alert) recently announced on its Windows Phone blog that when users actually try a Windows Phone device, they're likely to prefer it to their current phone, and they're likely to prefer it in a surprisingly large percentage.
Specifically, Microsoft was talking about the results of its “Meet Your Match” challenge, which was in turn similar to its “Smoked by Windows Phone” challenge. The “Meet Your Match” challenge revealed an unexpected truth: 88 percent of the more than 75,000 people who tried Windows Phone in several countries—specifically Germany, the U.K., France and the U.S.-- felt that the Windows Phone device they tried was actually better for them than the phone they were carrying at the time.
It's not just the challengers who are enjoying the “Meet Your Match” challenges, though, with the “Meet Your Match” YouTube (News - Alert) videos also doing fairly well at more than 600,000 total views and fully 88 percent of those users liking said videos. But what does this mean for Microsoft and Windows Phone?
The biggest problem that Microsoft faced in terms of Windows Phone was that it came so late to the party. Most users had already slipped into one camp or another, and had a line of device they quite clearly preferred. Why leave a device that has all the apps they need on it, and that they're used to and even enjoy for a new, untested device from the people who brought them the computer? Microsoft had to show people the value, and it had to do it in a very big way to get people out of their familiar camps. The results of the “Meet Your Match” and “Smoked by Windows Phone” challenges should go a long way toward helping on that front, and as Microsoft continues to show the value—which it's going to have to do on a regular basis—the more people they're likely to get out of their current camp, especially if there's any discontent seen.
Windows Phone, naturally, has a long way to go before it can truly be regarded as a strong competitor for Android (News - Alert) and iOS, but with a dedication to presenting value tops on their list, it may well pull it off.